Grain-door for cars.



PATENTED' JULY 2, 1907. J. A. WILKINSON. GRAIN DOOR FOR c'ARs.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 10. 1906. I

2 QHEETB-BHBBT 1.

In I

No. 858,551. PATENTED JULY 2, 1907.

J; A. WILKINSON. GRAIN DOOR FOR CARS. APPLICATION nun ran. 1'0, 1900.

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7H5 ivanms PETERS ca., WA5HING1ON, a c.

JOHN ALLAN WILKINSON, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

GRAIN-DOOR FOR CARS.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2, 1907.

Application filed February 10,1906. Serial No. 300,357.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, JOHN ALLAN WILKINSON, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Imprdvements in Grain-Doors for Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to grain doors for railway cars, and has for its object to provide a simple and efficient type of door, that may be applied to the car as a permanent part of the equipment thereof to be moved into and out of operative position in front of the doors of freight cars or the like, when the latter are to be used for transporting grain, or other granular or comminuted material. K f v i To this end, the invention comprises one or more sliding leaves or sections, conveniently made of pressed steel or other metal, slidably mounted on the. inner side of the car wall, so as to occupy-a small amount of space within the car and not to interfere with or. obstruct the clear-way within the car. In the lower part of the sliding leaf or section, there is provided an opening to permit the grain or like material to. escape, whenit is desired to unload the car, which opening is adapted to. be sealed by a closure, preferably pivoted to 'the corresponding leaf or section, and which is provided with means for locking it in'closed position, which means may also lock the closure in open position. i A more convenient form of the invention comprises two leaves or sections, slidably mounted on the inside walls of the car, on opposite sides of the door-way, each section being provided with an opening near the lower portion thereof, through which the grain is permitted to escape, and vertical ribs on the meeting edges of the sections, which serve not only to strengthen the respective Sections, but afford a simple and eflicient means for locking the leaves or sections in closed position, and also act as a support for the pivoted closures for the openings in the lower portions of the leaves.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which;

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the mid-section of a freight car, showing the invention applied thereto, the door being in closed position; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of a freight car, showing the door in closed position; Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section of the car, through the door thereof.

Referring to the drawings, a indicates a railway car of the ordinary box type, provided with the usual side doors I), which, under ordinary conditions of traflic, are closed by sliding doors mounted on the outside of the car body, said doors being omitted in the present instance to avoid confusion.

It is customary to employ cars of this type for the transportation of grain, such as wheat, oats, corn, and

4 other granular or comminuted material. It is obvious that the ordinary sliding doors on the outside of the car I body, would be ineffective to prevent the escape of the 1 grain or other fine material from the car, and to seal-the f door-way against the escape of the grain, it has been customary to provide grain doors for such cars, which doors have been variously constructed and applied. The present invention is designed to provide a door to be 1 applied in connection with cars, of this type, when used intransporting grain, that may be cheaply made and readily installed, that will absolutely prevent the 3 loss of grain by leakage, and that will enable the grain to be discharged automatically without opening the main portion of the door, the whole structure being adapted fo form a permanent part of the car equipment, that will lie snugly within the car body.

The door proper, in its more convenient application, consists of two leaves or sections 0, e, which are slidably mounted in guideways c and 01 secured to the car sides, so as to permit the respective sections to be moved outward, so that when the vertical edges? meet, they will constitute a complete closure for the lower portion of I the car body. Preferably, the leaves or sections a and e, and also the guideways c and d, are formed of sheet steel or other suitable metal, so as to permit the parts to be made relatively thin, and thereby to occupy little of the interior space of the car. The meeting edges of leaves e and e are provided with flanges f and f, which serve not only to materially strengthen the leaves or sections against buckling or lateral fieXure, but also afford a simple and efiicient means for locking the sections in closed position, as will be hereinafter more fully described. The flanges f and f are preferably formed from the body of the leaves or sections e and a, respectively, by bending or forming the same in a press or other suitable apparatus. One of the leaves or sections is preferably provided with a batten or strip g, which overhangs the vertical edge thereof, and is adapted to form a seal for the meeting flange edges of the leaves, when the latter are brought together.

In order to retain each of the leaves or sections e, c,

' in the guideways, and prevent them being accidentally displaced or removed by malicious or unauthorized persons, and also to limit the outward closing movement of the respective sections, each of the said sections is provided with a slot 1" in the lower portion thereof, which is engaged by a headed stud or bolt 3,

' carried by the guideway d.

In order to permit the grain or other material to be automatically discharged from the car, as far as possible, without opening the main door, each of the leaves or sections is provided with an opening 00 near the bottom thereof, which opening may conveniently be made triangular in section, so that when the two leaves are brought together, the respective openings constitute what is practically a single triangular opening, the lower sides of which converge toward the bottom of the door, and afford an effective discharge which tends to deliver the grain or other material, as the same runs from the car, in a well defined stream. The openings 1* must, of course, be provided with an effective seal or closure, to prevent the escape of the grain, when the latter is being stored or transported in the car, which seal or closure must be capable of ready removal from the opening, when it is desired to unload the car, and which must also be of such a character as to be incapable of accidental displacement when it is once applied to a position to close the opening. Such a closure may be conveniently made of the form shown in the several drawings, in which each closure for the respective openings 9: comprises a generally triangular body portion it, having a rectangular flange j along one side, by means of which the closure is pivoted or hinged to the corresponding vertical flange f or f of the door leaves or sections. The pivot member Z, is, in each instance, located near the upper outer corner of the flange 9', so as to permit the closure to be swung freely toward and from the body portions of the leaves, and to cause the triangular member of the closure k to register with the corresponding opening a: in the leaf or section. To strengthen the closure, and also to more effectively seal the opening a with which the same cooperates the triangular portion is of the closure is provided with an embossed panel or projecting central portion h, which fits within the opening x and forms a substantially flush surface with the inner face of the corresponding leaf or section, when the closure is brought against the outer face of the leaf or section. It will be understood, of course, that the elesures and the openings with which they cooperate may be given any appropriate shape, and may be located as convenience or necessity may indicate. Likewise, the particular means for pivoting or connecting the respective closures to the door leaves or sections may be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention.

It is, of course, necessary to secure the sections e, 0, when the door is in use, so that their meeting edges shall be preserved in absolute registry and alinement, to prevent the escape of the grain at this point. Any suitable locks for accomplishing this purpose may be applied to the respective door sections, and a convenient and efficient means for locking the sections is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, particular reference being had to Figs. 1 and 3, which show the flanges f and f on the meeting edges of the leaves or sections, provided with registering longitudinal slots t', 'i, with which a bolt n engages, said bolt being provided with a nut, or other suitable tightening means, on one end. The upper end of one of the slots 1; is provided with an enlarged orifice i, to permit the head of the bolt to pass through the corresponding flange, when it is desired either to lock or unlock the door leaves or sections. The corresponding slot 1', in the meeting flange f, is provided with an angularly disposed short slot section 11 adapted to receive the bolt end and hold the same in position to register with the enlarged opening f in the slot in the other section.

The bolt'n also serves to lock the closures for the opening in both opened and closed positions, and to accomplish this purpose, the flanges j of the closures are provided with slots m, which, when the said closures are in position to seal the openings 93, register with the slots '5 and permit the bolt to drop to the lower end of the slots, thereby not only holding the leaves or sections together, but also locking the closures in proper position. In order that the bolts may also serve to lock the closures in open position, there is provided in the lower end of each of the flanges j, a relatively shaflow slot or socket 0, which, when the closures are revolved through substantially 180, comes in alinement with the corresponding slot 2', and when the bolt a, which has been raised to release the closures, is again dropped, it will engage the slots or sockets 0 and secure the closures in open position, as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 3.

When the leaves or sections 0, c, are not to be employ ed, they are slid endwise in their guideways c and d until the flanges f and f lie snugly against the door jambs. Under these conditions, it will be noted that the leaves occupy very little of the interior car space, and, in fact, may, if desired, take the place of the ordinary sheathing on the inside of the cars, as far as practicable. Moreover, the flanges f and f, which lie against the door jambs, do not obstruct the door-way, but, on the other hand, afford an effective sheathing to protect the jambs.

When it is desired to put the door in commission, the leaves or sections 0, e are moved outwardly in their guideways c and (1, until the flanges f and f abut. The head of the bolt 17. is passed through the enlarged opening 1" in the upper part of the slot 11 in the corresponding leaf 0, and said bolt permitted to drop through the registering slots 1', 71, until it rests in the lower portion of said slots, after which the nut or other locking means on the bolt is tightened up, so that the bolt not only draws the flanges f and f securely together, but also serves to lock the closures is, k in registry with the corresponding discharge openings 9; in the lower portions of the respective leaves. The grain or other comminuted material, may then be loaded into the car through the space above the door.

When it is desired to discharge the material in the car, the nut or other locking means on the bolt n is loosened, and said bolt is raised sufliciently to unlock the closures k, which are then swung dowmvard and outward on the pivots Z to uncover the openings 3:, through which the grain or other material will immediately begin to flow. If it is desired to lock the closures 7c in open position, they are moved through an angle of a little more than 180, to bring the slots or sockets 0, in the lower portions of the flanges j, into registry with the corresponding slots i, so that said slots 0 will be engaged by the bolt n. After the grain has been automatically discharged, as far as practicable, the entire door is opened, by moving the belt a upward in the slots 41 until the head of the bolt registers with the enlarged opening 1', to permit the leaf or section 0 to be moved backward, thus unlocking the two sections, each of which may be slid endwise in its guid eways into the car.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1, A grain door for cars, comprising a horizontally sliding leaf having a vertical flange on one edge thereof and provided with an opening 'near the bottom thereof, a closure for said opening pivoted "to said flange, and means for locking said closure to the leaf to seal the opening.

. 2. A grain door for cars, comprising a sliding leaf having a vertical flange on one edge thereof and provided with an opening near the bottom thereof, a closure for said opening including a flange, a pivotal connection between the flange on the'closure and the flange on the leaf, registering slots in the respective flanges, and a slidable bolt for engaging the slots to lockthe closure.

3. A grain door for cars, comprising a pair of horizontally sliding leaves provided with flanges on their meeting edges, said leaves having openings near the bottoms thereof, closures for sealing the respective openings, and means for simultaneously locking the leaves together and said closures in sealing position. v p

4. A grain door for cars, comprising a pair'of horizontally sliding leaves provided with flanges on their meeting edges, said leaves having openings in the lower portions thereof, closures in said openings pivoted to the respective edge flanges of the leaves, and means cooperating with the flanges for locking the leaves and the closures in closed position.

5. A grain door for cars, comprising a pair of horizontally sliding leaves provided with flanges on their meeting edges and having openings in their lower portions, said flanges having registering longitudinal slots therein, clo' sures pivotally mounted on said flanges and provided with slots registering with the corresponding flange slots, and a sliding locking member engaging the registering slots in the flanges to lock the leaves together and also adapted to In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN ALLAN WILKINSON. 

